Friday, February 22, 2013

USA
Today (2/21, Toppo) reports, "Education Secretary Arne Duncan came out
swinging Thursday, directing his harshest words at congressional lawmakers
before what he calls 'increasingly likely' mandatory spending cuts for 'real
kids, real teachers and real classrooms' from sequestration this March." Duncan
told reporters that districts are already laying off teachers in anticipation of
sequestration cuts, and "blamed what he called 'the height of dysfunction' in
Congress." USA Today quotes him saying, "There's no one in their right mind who
would say this is good for kids and good for the country, yet somehow it becomes
tenable in Washington. I just think people don't spend enough time in the real
world. And if we spent more time in the real world, we wouldn't have this kind
of intransigence here." The article notes that the Administration has estimated
that some $725 million in Title I funding and $598 million in special education
funding would be eliminated if sequestration takes place.

The Washington
Post (2/22, Brown) reports that Duncan "criticized Congress for failing to
reach a deal to stop the across-the-board cuts...which could force thousands of
teachers out of their jobs." Noting that most of the roughly $1.3 billion in
education funding in jeopardy "goes toward programs for poor children and
students with disabilities," the Post adds that "schools that receive more
federal aid - including Department of Defense-run schools and those on Indian
reservations - are likely to feel the squeeze immediately, which could mean
shorter school weeks in spring or a shorter school year." The Post quotes Duncan
saying, "These are two populations that we owe more to, not less, and those cuts
are going to kick in quicker."

The AP
(2/22) reports that Duncan "says he's increasingly worried that deep spending
cuts will take effect on March 1, hurting the nation's students and teachers,"
and "says no one would have designed the automatic budget cuts, known as
sequester, on purpose. Duncan says those automatic cuts were designed to be so
unpleasant that lawmakers would reach a compromise to dodge them." Duncan, the
AP adds, called the impasse, "'the height of dysfunction in Congress' and warns
he cannot mitigate the cuts if they take hold."

The AP
(2/22) reports that Duncan "says he's increasingly worried that deep spending
cuts will take effect on March 1, hurting the nation's students and teachers,"
and "says no one would have designed the automatic budget cuts, known as
sequester, on purpose. Duncan says those automatic cuts were designed to be so
unpleasant that lawmakers would reach a compromise to dodge them." Duncan, the
AP adds, called the impasse, "'the height of dysfunction in Congress' and warns
he cannot mitigate the cuts if they take hold."

The Huffington
Post (2/21, Resmovits) reports that Duncan said that "districts are already
asking for help dealing with the massive, imminent cuts," quoting him saying, "I
was on a call yesterday, people are starting to give RIF [reduction in force]
notes. The sequestration stuff is very very worrying to me. I'm increasingly
concerned that's going to happen. Schools are already starting to give teachers
notices." The Post adds, "Decisions would be made on a district-by-district
level, and cuts could include things like slashing after-school programs, firing
teachers, curtailing pre-school and shortening the school day or school year -
simply because money has run out sooner." The piece notes that Duncan stressed
that he has no power to mitigate the impact of the cuts, quoting him saying,
"I'll be really clear. There is no fix. I wish I had some magic wand. I don't."
Regarding the potential impact on the department itself, Duncan said, "It will
have an impact here. We'll work our way through it.

There is a potential of
furloughs." Michele McNeil also writes about Duncan's sequestration comments at
the Education
Week (2/22) "Politics K-12" blog. Meanwhile Gannett
(2/20, Groppe) continues coverage of Michigan officials' comments about the
impact on state schools.

Bloomberg
News (2/22, Przybyla) mentions Duncan's comments on education cuts, notably
those related to impact aid, in an article about the potential cuts that would
affect "four-year-old children in low-income families who receive free milk,
fruit and vegetables through a US government nutrition program," the Women,
Infants and Children program. Politico
(2/22, Samuelsohn) also mentions Duncan in an article about the Administration
changing its apparent policy of not allowing individual cabinet agencies address
the impact of the sequester..

KFOX-TV El Paso, TX (2/22, 9:42 p.m. MST)
broadcast, "New warnings tonight about how Federal spending cuts could impact
schools. Education Secretary Arne Duncan says classrooms across the country
would see larger class sizes as school districts are forced to lay off teachers.
There would also be less money for special needs programs." WWCP-TV Johnstown,
PA (2/22, 10:31 p.m. EST) and KIRO-TV Seattle (2/22, 6:08 p.m. PST) are among
several other stations running such reports.

Florida
Teacher Testifies About Cuts' Impact.

Valerie Strauss writes at the Washington
Post (2/22, Strauss) "Answer Sheet" blog that Megan Allen, Florida teacher
of the year for 2010, "testified before the US House Democratic Steering and
Policy Committee on Thursday about the effects on high-needs students if
Congress allows automatic 5 percent funding cuts," even as Duncan "said that
school districts are already struggling with plans should the budget cuts go
forward, and that he is concerned about the effects on teachers and students."
Strauss relates Allen's prepared remarks.

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